Do I ship it?

Games › Survival Horror › Survival Horror + Dystopian

Specimen · observed

Should I ship a Dystopian Survival Horror?

Survival Horror + Dystopian

Of 41 developers who shipped a Dystopian Survival Horror in the last 2 years: 3 in 10 made under est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method., the middle one made est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method., 1 in 4 cleared est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method., 1 in 20 cleared est. revenue: est. copies × today's US list price; gross, before Steam's cut, taxes and refunds. See method.. 108 more are announced, ×4.3 for every developer who shipped in the last year.

Verdict: poor odds, for a 6 / 10 build.

The middle developer here made $3.6k, ×5.7 the market's $630 for a 6 / 10 build, and 3 in 10 made under $480; 1 in 20 cleared $2.2M, ×3526 the market median. Revenue is up 250% on the market; 108 games are announced against 25 developers who shipped in the last year.

Deciding numbers: median 5.7 times the market baseline, revenue up 250% on the market, 108 announced, ×4.3 per developer who shipped in the last year.
Nobody has said they are building this yet.
Survival Horror + Dystopian
Fig. 1 · this niche among 16,100
Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr n = 41
Median est. gross by half-year cohort, 2023 H1 to 2026 H2: $4.6k → $7.8k → $3.6k → $5.7k → $1.0k → $33k (still earning) → $15k (still earning)
The last cohort is still earning.
Outcomes for Survival Horror + Dystopian: Plate 1 · outcomes, 2 yr, n = 41
Bottom 30% $479 (exactly $479)
Median $3.6k (exactly $3,594)
Top 25% $35k (exactly $35,065)
Top 5% $2.2M (exactly $2,214,389)
Developers, 2 yr 41
Released games 119
Announced 108
Effort 6 / 10
AI-buildability Medium
Typical price $6.99

momentum: how a niche's revenue percentiles and developer count moved between two equal, adjacent periods, divided by the market's own move. See method., 12 months: revenue up 250% on the market, supply 55% more developers than the period before.

Free games: 18%, excluded from money figures.

See every window in the explorer →

Plate 2 · systems and tooling

Can AI deliver it?

AI-buildability for this niche is medium: the lowest rating among its tags.

Survival Horror
effort 6 / 10 · medium · effort 6 sits in the medium band
Dystopian
effort 4 / 10 · medium · effort 4 sits in the medium band

How the rubric works →

Plate 3 · the cost side

What it takes

Effort
6 / 10 · full 3D single-player, physics sims, content-heavy RPG
Systems
Survival Horror; 6 in 10 of the top 25% also carry Action, Adventure, Action-Adventure
Price point
$6.99 typical · top 25% priced $24.99 or above
Art
6 in 10 of the top 25% ship with Atmospheric, First-Person, Story Rich
Plate 4 · demand

Why players buy here

The top 25% priced at $24.99 or above; the middle game at $6.99.

The top 10 games average 84% positive over 18,343 reviews.

Plate 5 · the loss side

What kills games here

Developer outcomes in the last 2 years by share: 3 in 10 under $480, median $3.6k, 1 in 4 over $35k, 1 in 20 over $2.2M.

3 in 10 developers made under $480. 7 in 10 of the 21 games released 1 to 2 years ago have fewer than 100 reviews. 108 games are announced against 25 developers who shipped in the last year, ×4.3 per shipper.

Plate 6 · same mechanic, other settings

Adjacent niches

Survival Horror with a different setting or mood, ranked by verdict then median.

  1. + FMVFair13 devs · median $31k · 14 announced
  2. + DrivingFair20 devs · median $4.9k · 25 announced
  3. + Tower DefenseFair14 devs · median $1.9k · 16 announced
  4. + IncrementalFair16 devs · median $1.6k · 19 announced
  5. + SnowFair17 devs · median $1.2k · 15 announced
  6. + SportsFair5 devs · median $959 · 3 announced
  7. + Outbreak SimFair22 devs · median $958 · 24 announced
  8. + 3D PlatformerFair111 devs · median $539 · 104 announced
  9. + Boomer ShooterFair27 devs · median $449 · 28 announced
  10. + Turn-Based CombatPoor odds10 devs · median $64k · 42 announced
  11. + LGBTQ+Poor odds17 devs · median $52k · 21 announced
  12. + Spectacle fighterPoor odds8 devs · median $52k · 12 announced

All 159 pairs on the Survival Horror page

Plate 7 · comparable specimens, by est. revenue

Comparable games

We Happy Few 2018 · $20M SIGNALIS 2022 · $18M Cronos: The New Dawn 2025 · $14M Pathologic 2 2019 · $10M Pathologic 3 2026 · $2.7M
Capsule Game Released Price Reviews Est. copies Est. revenue Developer
We Happy Few older $59.99 11,204 76% 336k $20M (exactly $20,163,839) Compulsion Games
SIGNALIS older $19.99 30,601 96% 918k $18M (exactly $18,351,420) rose-engine
Cronos: The New Dawn $59.99 7,753 87% 233k $14M (exactly $13,953,074) Bloober Team
Pathologic 2 older $34.99 9,554 92% 287k $10M (exactly $10,028,834) Ice-Pick Lodge
Pathologic 3 $34.99 2,528 80% 76k $2.7M (exactly $2,653,642) Ice-Pick Lodge
Crisol: Theater of Idols $17.99 4,103 85% 123k $2.2M (exactly $2,214,389) Vermila Studios
After the Fall® older $19.99 2,572 76% 77k $1.5M (exactly $1,542,428) Vertigo Games
Happy's Humble Burger Farm older $19.99 1,704 93% 51k $1.0M (exactly $1,021,889) Scythe Dev Team
Misao - 2024 HD Remaster older $9.99 2,347 95% 70k $703k (exactly $703,396) sen
Static Dread: The Lighthouse $10.90 1,394 90% 42k $456k (exactly $455,838) solarsuit.games
Final Sentence $9.99 1,095 84% 33k $328k (exactly $328,172) Button Mash
INDUSTRIA 2 $24.99 431 49% 13k $323k (exactly $323,121) Bleakmill
The Living Remain $19.99 289 79% 8.7k $173k (exactly $173,313) Five Finger Studios
The Last FARMER $12.99 258 56% 7.7k $101k (exactly $100,543) Geekon
Knights End $7.99 286 90% 8.6k $69k (exactly $68,554) Knight Shift Studios
CashGrab: Refunded · EA $6.99 206 87% 6.2k $43k (exactly $43,198) Grabba Guild Games LLC

Estimates: copies = reviews × 30, gross = copies × list price.